Their Struggle
by Chisicet
Summary: He will always be there for her, no matter their struggles. Monk x Mai, begins as Yasu X Mai, but you have to read to find out why and how she ends up with Monk instead.
1. Chapter 1

**I own nothing but the plot of this.**

**This was a request, and it will be multi chaptered, so this is not the end of it, as well as this is more of a prologue than anything else. This will be a Monkx Mai pairing, so if you don't want that, turn away now.**

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There was a stillness in the air as Mai slowly shut her front door behind her. She moved cautiously into the living room and noticed a sullen looking Yasu sitting on the couch. She paused before making her way fully into the room and stopped at the end of the couch. She could see the moment he realized she was there and it dawned on her that something was about to happen. Her instinct screamed at her to leave, to reenter the room, and see if there would be a different outcome.

But she didn't. She stood feet away from her boyfriend, trying to figure out what has gotten him worked up and honestly all her thoughts led her to places she rather not have them go.

"Mai…" She could hear his hesitation, his uncertainty and wanted to hold him. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and hold him until he told her what was wrong. "Kazuya… Kazuya is returning to Japan with Lin. And… unfortunately, I…" He paused and that was all it took for her to move to his side, wrap her arms around his shocked person and tuck her head against his arm.

"We can deal with them coming back, we can deal with it." He pulled away from her and moved to lean against the wall still not looking at her.

"That's not all. Per my job I have to move." She shifted to face him more.

"Move where, Yasu?" He ran a hand over his face and turned toward her, defeat written on his face.

"The terms of taking his job when I did, is that, when he comes back I have to take his position in England." Her mouth dropped and she jolted from the couch to his side.

"No… no they can't do this, they can't make you take over his position in England." He looked down to where she was gripping the sleeve of his shirt and he shook his head.

"They can, and I signed a contract so I can't just quit to get out of it. I'm moving to England. Unless you move with me, I think…" He looked away and grew quiet as his words sunk in and the tears started to form in her eyes.

"Yasu… No… You can't mean you want to break it off, after everything, after the last six years, this is how you want to end things? What if I did move with you?" He looked shocked for a moment before he slowly shook his head.

"Mai, you can't just pick up and leave like that. You have a life, a job and friends, no, family. You have everything here, I can't and won't ask that of you." She backed away from him and turned toward the couch.

"You have all of that too Yasu, you have a life here, we… weren't we making plans to get married soon? I mean, I know you haven't officially proposed, but, seriously, we already had a date and everything!" The tears in her voice caused him to flinch and he was suddenly very unsure of himself.

"I know. Maybe, we can just pick up where we left off when I get back? It's only a few years, two if I can get away with it." They turned to each other and the hope shining in her eyes gave him new resolve. "That's what I'll do, as soon as I can, I will come back, I promise!" He gathered her in his arms and kissed her on the forehead. "Mai, I love you."

"Yasu… let's go to bed." They frog walked down the hall to their room, he didn't want to let her go for any reason right now. As they began to undress she looked over at him and he paused at the brilliant smile she was sending him. "I love you too Yasu." He kissed her, pulling her body flush against his.

"I will come back to you." She nodded and smiled again before hugging him close.

Mai looked around her at the vast blackness and wondered why she was in the spirit realm. She had not been on a case in the two months since Yasu said he was leaving. They had spent the remaining time together getting things ready for his departure both in their personal life and professional. And he had left earlier that day, she was lonely already, but she would persevere knowing he was coming back to her.

But, that begged to say… she was curious as to why she was here now. She only ever came here when she needed information on a case, so, with that being said, Gene should be somewhere around here, right? She peered around but could not see anyone, and for a while now, she wondered why, so she decided to wander around some to see if she would stumble into a memory.

It did not take long before she was slowly blinking her eyes into the dome light above her head. She sat up some and sighed trying to get a good look around. She was on a plane, a regular passenger plane that seemed to have mostly sleeping passengers. She sat there for a few minutes just looking around, her body not moving in the least before a sudden urge to use the bathroom hit her and she realized that is what awoke her. As she stood and moved into the aisle she waved down a flight attendant that was making his rounds.

"The bathroom?" He nodded and moved so she could pass him and pointed back the way he had just come from.

"See the red curtain further down? It's just on the other side and to the left." She bowed in thanks and moved down the walkway and was almost to the curtain when a sudden jolt caused her to stumble. She grabbed the closest chair to her for stabilization and looked around before glancing at the person in the chair she was holding onto.

Her eyes widened as she recognized the sleeping figure but she was unable to reach out and wake him. She wanted to cry because Yasu was right there, right in front of her and she could do nothing about it! Her body stood, looked around once more, and made to continue on to the bathroom until another jolt sent her sprawling into Yasu's lap. He awoke with a start but before anyone could do anything the plane dropped, she felt as if she was on a free drop coaster from an amusement park. Red lights began to flash and the oxygen masks dropped from their storage compartments. Yasu grabbed her and helped her into the seat next to him, fastened her belt as she reached up and grabbed the masks for them. They glanced at each other, held hands, and closed their eyes.

Mai sat bolt upright and the tears would not stop. She pulled her phone out off of her nightstand and dialed the number she knew by heart but it went to voicemail. She wanted to throw it, smash it to bits because she could not get a hold of him. What time was it? Wasn't he supposed to call and check in hours ago?

She dialed up Lin's number, knowing he would answer no matter what and true to her thoughts he answered on the third ring.

"Mai? What's wrong?" He sounded distracted but knew there would be a reason for her calling.

"I think Yasu was in a plane wreck. I had a dream, I was a passenger who was close by him when the plane began to fall rapidly." Her sobs barely held at bay she waited to hear what he said.

"Oh Mai… I think you're right. We came to get Yasu at his arrival time, but it seems like there has been complications. Let me call you back when I have more details, ok?" She nodded and hung up the phone, barely aware that he did not see her acknowledgement as she began to cry. Before she knew it there was banging on her front door and when she glanced at the clock an hour had passed as she sat there hugging her knees and clutching her phone.

She made it as far as the end of her bed though when Bou-san, Ayako and Masako were standing in her doorway. She made to take a step but stumbled and in seconds Bou-san had her wrapped in his arms, Ayako and Masako joining him a moment later as they watched her break apart.

It had been a week before the authorities managed to find all of the bodies that were on the plane and were holding the bodies in a morgue in Margate, England, the closest town to where the plane had crashed due to a storm. She was set to be on a plane herself soon to claim his body, she was going with his mother and the rest of the SPR group all of whom were appearing as if they would rather not step onto a plane with the news they had. Mai on the other hand was terrified out of her mind at the prospect of getting on a plane, especially after living through Yasu's final moments. When their flight was called and they stood in front of the doors to enter the plane she froze, she could not move and for a moment she really wished that she never had to again.

"Return to your home spirit, leave this girl in peace." The gentle words of Masako filtered into her ear and after another frozen moment she sighed out in relief as the spirit left her; she turned to give Masako a thank you but she was glaring at her. "Don't let your fears mingle with theirs, it would do you no good. Let's go." She nodded at Masako and stepped forward to follow her.

"I'm sorry, I can only allow one of you to go back there to claim his body, its policy. Only family can go back there and as far as I can tell only one of you is family." The stout woman next to Mai bowed up to the nurse in front of her.

"I don't care about your pol-o-cies, my son is back there, and his wife is standing next to me. These are all his co-workers and they are as close to family as blood. So you either let Mai and I back there or you let us all back there. Your choice but I would prefer you not fight me anymore about this." She glared at the shocked nurse that stood in her way to get to her son and Mai, glad that she was holding her hand, was shocked that the woman would call her Yasu's wife.

The rest of SPR seemed to think along the same lines as her as they all turned shocked expressions to the woman. Fortunately the nurse was saved as Lin stepped out from the back, holding the door open so as not to be locked out.

"Maryjain, they are all requested to come back, Dr. Davis says that it's ok." The nurse sighed in defeat and moved out of the way as she turned to go back to the front desk. "This way." He held the door open and Ayako took it as everyone else filed into the hallway and followed Lin down to a window at the far end. "We know it's him, but as his living relative, you have to make the final claim. Mrs. Yasuhara, SPR will cover the cost of everything, we valued him as a friend and employee and are sincerely saddened by his departure from our world."

Lin bowed to her and Mai couldn't move from the window. She was frozen there, staring at the body that was covered by a sheet on the table. A shimmer, just there behind Naru had her glancing his direction to lock eyes with a spirit, one intent on Naru. Mai moved quickly, Masako barely giving a shout before the brunette girl was in the room. She had barely made it to Naru's side and pushed him out of the way, in time.

"Yasu! Stop!" She glared at the ghost in front of her, the tears she shed doubled, and her vision becoming blurry with them quickly. He turned to her, the grief in his eyes as real as the grief in her heart.

"Mai… I told you I would come back, but now I can't. All because of him! If he had not requested tha-" Mai shook her head and a screamed 'No' stopped him mid-sentence. By now the rest of the group had gathered around watching Mai, only Masako and herself able to see Yasu as he stood there, anger rolling off him in waves at this point.

"Yasu, you can say what you want about it, but the truth is, you are the one who stepped onto that plane in the first place! Naru, Lin, SPR…. They did not cause it to crash, not at all. I was there, I saw it. You remember the person who you helped into the seat next to you?" He nodded, a dazed look on his face as the memories surfaced.

"I witnessed it through that person, I was holding your hand when we went down. I felt it all right there with you." He stared at her in silence, the shock replacing his anger as he stepped toward Mai. She moved forward until they were as close as could be and a collective gasp around her could be heard. She reached out, not caring about the others for the moment.

"Mai, I can't come home." He put a hand on her cheek and for a moment he felt real against her skin.

"You already are. Everyone is here to see you off. We all love you. Yasu… I need to tell you something." She took his hand, she swears his hand became solid in hers in that moment, and placed it on her stomach. "You may not be here to raise our baby, but you will always be known as the father." He gathered her in his arms in that moment and the gasps around them once again reminded them that the others were here.

They turned and noticed they were all being stared at quite intensively by the group. Yasu's mom stepped closer and held a hand out to her son. He stepped toward her, away from Mai, and slowly became translucent again. She reached a hand out to his, holding it his in hers and the grateful smile from mother and son warmed her. His mother embraced them both and pat their cheeks as her tears flowed freely.

"How is that possible?" Bou-san moved forward and poked Yasu, who was solid to the touch but still slightly translucent in appearance.

"It's Mai's powers." The short reply from Naru was all he said as he moved to lean on the wall by the door, Lin already standing there silently.

"Mai, I need to come home." Mai turned her full attention back to Yasu and shook her head.

"No, Yasu, we'll be fine, you need to move on." He made to argue but a look from over her shoulder from his mother had him staying silent, but he nodded. "We'll bring your body home to be buried with your father, but you need to move on." He nodded once more before sighing and placing a kiss on her forehead. He turned and motioned Bou-san closer to him as he stepped away from Mai so she could not hear their whispered conversation until Bou-san recoiled and Yasu's familiar flirting grew in volume until a few people were laughing.

"I want to say thank you, and goodbye to you all. You're all my family, and even if I won't be around, little me will, so treat her right!" He bowed and as he made to let go of Mai's hand she tugged on it pulling him toward her as she moved to her toes. He met her halfway and gave her a solid kiss, their last as he stepped back and a golden light emanated from within him, a moment later he was gone. Mai couldn't hold it in any longer and she collapsed to her knees, Bou-san and John; who had stepped into the room after the rest of the group; kneeled beside her as they wrapped her in their arms, their own tears rolling down their cheeks. Her sobs weren't the only ones in the room though as Yasu's mother was leaned over his body, balling her eyes out over her son. The only consolation Mai had was that he would not be around to become a site bound spirit and haunt anyone

That also meant he was never coming home.


	2. Chapter 2

**So, this took me awhile. I actually had a bit of writers block recently after some bad critiques from my creative writing club, and honestly, being told politely that your stuff sucks and you should stick to reading other people's work instead of writing anything... It hurts. But, I couldn't help but write more of this nearly finished chapter. I literally only had about 500 more words until I called this one done.**

**I don't own the characters, just the plot.**

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He stood there in the doorway of his new place of residence. The four bedroom house he just co-signed on depleted his bank account, but, honestly, he knew he would never go back on that. He got to move in first so most of the boxes scattered throughout the house were his so far; he grinned at the room around him before making his way upstairs to start organizing.

He was given a month off of work and the band gigs to get the house, get it in order, and move in and then help Mai move in. He knew that she would need them all to move her stuff since she was an emotional rollercoaster lately, she had more things than he did as well. Being near seven months pregnant was taking its toll on the whole team; but he would not change it for anything.

He sighed as he finished the room he was in, the room that would be his, and moved to stand in front of the window as he looked out to the street. He couldn't help but remember how he got to this point and was saddened by the circumstances.

For an entire week after claiming Yasu's body in the morgue Mai would be either locked in her room that BSPR was paying for while they were in town or crying her eyes out. Ayako had it rough when trying to get her to eat. Masako's snarky and rude comments the entire week were the only thing that seemed to work to get through to her.

It wasn't until they were on the plane going home that he had really any time to spend with her. She'd spent the week in a room, with Ayako, Masako or Madoka. She did not seem comfortable with any of the guys for some reason though. It was not until he had pulled up and was helping her carry her stuff into their apartment that he found out why.

She paused at her front door and pulled her keys out before sighing and shifting to look at him. She eyed him once before nodding, unlocking the door, and ushering them both in before just dropping everything in the hallway. He followed her lead and was about to turn and ask her if she needed anything when he noticed she was not there. Shutting the door behind him he walked in further to see her sitting on the couch.

"Mai, I'm leaving. Do you need anything first though?" She looked up at him sighing as she did and motioned him to the other side of the couch.

"We need to talk." He nodded and did as she requested.

"Sure, what's up Mai?" He plopped down and waited, a smile on his face but she could tell he was not feeling it.

"I know what Yasu told you, before he moved on. I want you to know you are relieved of the duty to protect 'his family as if it's your own'." She had such a serious look upon her face when she said those words that he did not know whether to be offended or not.

"Whether Yasu told me to or not, I would have anyway. Did he tell you everything? Did he tell you the part where he asked me to be the devoted husband and father he couldn't be?" Her eyes grew wide and she shook her head. "He asked something major of me Mai, I promised I would do what you would allow me to, and I still will." He turned to face her fully and held his hands up in a 'look at me' gesture. "I may not be what you want, and I don't expect to take Yasu's place. I only ask you to let me help you with your child.

I'll be the father he or she will need, but I could never be the man for you. Only Yasu filled that spot. Mai, I don't see you that way, and even if the little one calls me 'Uncle Hōshō' I'm fine with that so long as I can help take care of them so you don't have to alone." She had tears running down her face by the time he was done and he pulled her into a hug, smoothing a hand over her hair.

They had sat like that for a long time before she finally calmed down and they talked over exactly what it was they were going to do and how to work the arrangement. She had also admitted that being around the other guys and him just reminded her of Yasu too much so she had avoided them.

It had taken them time to find what they needed but he had, only a week ago. It was a last minute house back on the market because the people who were going to buy it did not want it anymore. He knew nothing else of the situation than that and he bought it as soon as they could gather the money and paperwork together.

He turned from the window and made his way out into the hall before glancing around. The bathroom was between his room and the master room, Mai's room is the bedroom across from his, the master room was going to be the office, and the baby would be sharing with Mai until they felt comfortable with the baby being on its own, maybe closer to a year. When they felt ok with it they were going to put the baby in the nursery between Mai's room and the master room. He turned away from the rooms and made his way downstairs to get started on the living room.

By the time he got the couch situated and was working on getting the T.V. set up it was some time in the evening when he heard the door open. It was a slight sound so until he was being spoken to it did not register in his mind in the least.

"Hōshō, what're you doing?" He jumped, banged his head on the edge of the T.V., shifted to make sure the T.V. wouldn't fall and then breathed a sigh of relief before turning to look at Mai.

To him she was lovely at this stage of pregnancy, her hair was up in a ponytail, hands laying across the top of her protruding stomach, smile on her face. It had been months before she had smiled again, but he was glad she was doing so again. He caught sight of her backpack with her and he grew curious, she only brought that with her if she intended to stay the night.

"I'm getting the T.V. set up. Are you staying the night here?" She nodded and his eyes widened when he realized her bed had yet to be moved over. "You can stay in my room then, I have it all made up already. I'll stay on the couch. He knew she was going to argue the point but with a quick, sharp look she just nodded.

"I brought food with me, but I left it in the car. Would you mind getting it?" He nodded, leaned over, and moved a few wires before plugging one last thing in and putting his tools down.

"Go ahead and have a seat, and I'll bring in the food, we can watch a movie while we eat." He was out the door before she could reply and was back within moments with the food. They settled and began to eat while making plans about moving her stuff over; the prospect of a movie forgotten.

"Hōshō … what are we going to do with my couch?" She inquired and he looked at her in confusion.

"Ah… I seem to have forgotten you have a couch as well. Uhm, well, we can move this couch up to the office for when we have guests over, use your more modern and newer couch in here."

"What about the table?" He nodded at that because he never had a kitchen table, he just always ate watching the T.V.

"No problem there, I don't own one, so yours will work out nicely. We'll combine our kitchen ware, and bathroom stuff as well. I think one of the last things we will truly need to buy is the baby's furniture. Once we get everything moved in we can take stock of what we need. If we have too much we can donate it I 'm sure." She had grown quiet but nodded, it sounded logical to her, but she could not help but be sad about the whole thing once again. He noticed the change but did not say anything; when she got like this it was better to let her think her way out of it.

"I think I'll go to bed soon, after I clean up." He nodded and stood before moving past her. He stood behind the couch where she was sitting and just looked at her a moment. On impulse he leaned over, slid an arm around her collarbone to grasp her shoulder, and placed a kiss on her head. He held her there a moment before making his way to his room to get a change of clothes to sleep in since Mai would be taking his bedroom over until they brought hers in.

She knew he was trying, she knew he was smiling for her and staying strong when she could not. She also knew that she could not do this without him or the rest of SPR. The one thing that she really did not know was how he seemed to be lately. She could see his eyes darken sometimes, or feel more meaning in his hugs. There was something now, something there that was not before, and she was apprehensive about what it could be.

She did not want to betray Yasu's memory, and she felt that by just living with Hōshō, she was doing just that. Logically she realized she was being childish, and the logical thing was to live with someone. Hōshō was the only one that fit.

Masako lived with her parents still, she was engaged to someone and would be living with him after they married.

Ayako was never home, always with SPR or the hospital.

Naru and Lin lived together when they were in Japan.

Madoka lived in England still.

John lived in the church if he was in Japan, he had taken to being a traveling priest recently; when not on jobs with SPR.

So Hōshō was the only person she really knew that she could live with and she was certainly not going to pass up the chance for help while being a soon to be single mother.

She rolled over and sat up to stare out of the window as much as possible from her position on the bed. The stars were barely visible through the haze of city lights and the sounds of the still awake city were distracting her from her thoughts.

Once more though, the tears slid down her cheeks but she did not reach up to wipe them away. Awhile later a creek near the door had her looking that direction, wondering what the noise could have been. A moment later her door began to slide open slowly and she stared wide eyed as a dark silhouette appeared. It moved slowly a few more feet into the room before pausing and turning her direction fully.

"Mai? What are you doing up?" Her jaw fell open as Hōshō moved closer to the bed where she could see him a bit better with the light from outside.

"I was thinking." He could hear the tears and exhaustion in her voice and he moved to sit next to her on the bed. He set himself against the head board and opened his arms to her. She moved into them so that her back was to his chest and he held her like that conveying to her comfort. She knew this but she could not help but feel more from the embrace and; ashamed of that; the tears' flow increased until she was openly sobbing.

They had fallen asleep like that and it was not until his phone began to go off some time into the morning that they stirred. He moved slowly as to not wake her more and assisted her as she shifted so that she was laying down and under the covers. He grabbed his now silent phone and made his way down stairs. He had initially went for his phone last night when he realized he had left it and knew he would be expecting a few calls in the morning. He just had not been expecting her to be awake or crying.

Once he was in the kitchen he started his coffee maker and returned the call he had missed before instantly regretting it.

"What are you doing taking so long in calling me back? I thought I told you I'd call at a certain time. That means you should be awake to answer when I call!" The high pitched and harsh voice of Ayako yelled at him through the receiver and he sighed.

"Sorry, chill. I left my phone in my room and Mai was in there, I had to be quiet. What did you want to talk about this early anyway?" He knew he sounded tired and her groan of frustration really was not helping the headache that was forming. He stretched and went about finding where his coffee cups had gone to.

"Mai's there? Good. We're all coming over to your new house. Lin wants to make sure we secure it and place wards and charms up. We need you both there, so don't leave." He groaned and stopped his search momentarily.

"Does this include blood wards?" A grunt for an answer and he rubbed his eyes. "Does that mean I can't have coffee until you're done?"

"Coffee?! Seriously? Are you just getting up? Why you lazy old man!" He pulled the phone from his ear as she continued to yell at him through the receiver and he sighed before cutting her off.

"Can you just answer the question? Coffee or no?"

"No. You'll have to wait until we are done drawing your blood. Make sure Mai is awake too." She paused and he heard a voice in the back ground. "We'll be bringing food as well. Naru wants tea when we get there." She hung up and he stared at his phone in shock before stuffing it in his pajama pockets and grumbling an 'of course he does'. He glanced down at the box he was standing in front of and grinned.

Ten minutes later he was opening the bedroom door and moving to the bed where he slowly and carefully sat on the edge. He reached out and made to nudge Mai but she shifted at the same time and he paused to just look at her.

Even sleeping she looked exhausted and he could tell that not just the pregnancy was taking its toll but the stress of doing it all without Yasu was as well. Since they had begun dating they had been inseparable.

They never saw one without the other and it was not long before they were living together and once or twice he had caught wind of them discussing a wedding. He could see how alone she felt just by her face most of the time but when she was asleep, one hand always looked like it was reaching for someone that was no longer there, it was even more obvious.

"Hōshō?" He blinked before blushing at being caught staring. He rubbed the back of his neck and gave a small grin before standing and moving to the door while she made to sit up.

"Sorry to wake you, but everyone is on their way over. Apparently Naru wants his tea." She dropped back to the bed with a groan.

"Alright, I'll be down in a minute." He nodded and left the room, closing the door behind him.


End file.
